1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate, in general, to optical scopes for firearms and particularly to a mounting and ring system enabling one or more scopes to be interchangeable with one or more firearms.
2. Relevant Background
The invention of the firearm brought with it the challenge of aiming. Beyond the inherent accuracy or inaccuracy of a weapon is the ability of the user to consistently aim the weapon so as to achieve the weapon's full potential. Thus with the arrival of firearms came the arrival of means to aim the weapon through the use of sights. Weapons typically have fixed aiming devices incorporated into their body. Normally these fixed sights include a front and rear sight and in some cases the rear sight is adjustable to compensate for elevation and drift attributed to wind. In addition to these fixed sights, numerous auxiliary sights have been developed to further aid the user in identifying where exactly the fired projectile will impact.
In the prior art, auxiliary sighting devices are typically rigidly mounted onto the top of the firearm receiver. Generally, these prior art firearms, such as rifles, shotguns, black-powder weapons and handguns, include spaced apart attachment points located on the top surface of the receiver that are used for attaching an auxiliary device such as a sighting scope. Such sight attachment points serve to position and secure the auxiliary sighting device above the barrel of the firearm and roughly align the sighting device with the barrel of the firearm. The scope is then adjusted so that it is more precisely sighted relative to the firearm to provide an accurate and positive alignment between the aiming point of the sight and the barrel of the firearm.
There are numerous different types and configurations of scope mounting devices known in the prior art, each of which includes its own design problems and disadvantages. Generally, these prior art mounting devices encompass and hold a sighting scope within in a scope holding portion which is then attached to a base, which is in turn mounted onto the attachment points on the receiver of a firearm. The standard and most widely used method for mounting scopes on firearms includes a combination of a scope base (also referred to herein as scope mount or simply mount) and scope rings. The scope base is a platform that is securely attached to the firearm to provide a mounting platform that is configured to receive the rings. The rings are typically formed as cylindrical clamps that are placed around the scope body or “tube” and fastened in place in the base. The rings also include lower mounting portions that then allow the rings, with the scope mounted therein, to be secured to the base either permanently or in removable engagement. These types of mounting devices are generally mounted using a variety of screw fasteners requiring the use of a tool, such as a screwdriver or Allen wrench, to firmly seat and retain the scope holding portion on the base or to remove the scope holding portion from the base. Thus, it is often difficult and time consuming to attach and/or remove the scope from the base just as it is difficult and time consuming to remove the base from the receiver of the weapon.
Additionally, there are many different scope ring/base combinations that are available in the prior art. One popular style known to those skilled in the art is the “Weaver” system, which utilizes longitudinal rail-type bases that are mounted onto the upper receiver of the firearm. The rings wrap around the barrel of the scope and are transversely clamped to the rails. In connection with the Weaver type system, a “quick release” concept in which the rings, with the scope mounted therein, can be mounted and dismounted and quickly reattached without the need for re-zeroing the scope. In the Weaver system however, the mounts remain affixed to the weapon and the mounts used on one weapon may not be compatible with the mounts and scope associated with another weapon.
Another mounting configuration is the popular “rotary dovetail” style in which a base is provided with a ring-receiving slot, a mating dovetail portion of the scope ring is dropped into the slot and the ring is rotated 90 degrees into locking alignment with the receiver and barrel. Yet another style is the “Ruger.®. dovetail” system in which a dovetail “base” is actually machined into the firearm's receiver, and specially mated rings are clamped on with heavy screws.
All of the foregoing systems have drawbacks or disadvantages fundamental to traditional ring mount systems. One problem is the need for rings of different heights to mount scopes with different objective lens diameters on the same firearm. For example, a scope with a small objective lens diameter or “bell” (e.g., 20 32 mm lens) might be mounted to a rifle using “low” height ring mounts; a medium bell (e.g., 33 42 mm lens) might require “medium” height ring mounts for the same firearm; and, a large-belled scope (e.g., 44 56 mm lens) would require a “high” ring mount. There are also times when it may be desirable to adjust the mounting height of the scope for the sighting comfort of the shooter, or to allow sufficient clearance for backup use of the firearm's fixed sights that are located beneath the scope.
To further complicate the issue, firearms that are utilized in the military must be constructed to be relatively durable and capable of withstanding wide variations in atmospheric conditions and substantial physical shock. Telescopic sights, in contrast, are relatively delicate optical instruments that are vulnerable to variations in atmospheric conditions and to physical shock. A sharp blow to a telescopic sight will often shift its point of aim. As a result, firearms with permanently attached telescopic sights must be treated delicately.
Another significant problem arises when gun manufacturers use a variety of different mounting patterns for scopes on the top of their guns and rifles. In order to achieve the secure attachment necessary for a scope, individualized mounts have been required for the various manufacturers of guns or rifles on the market. Each scope and gun combination becomes unique.
Hunters often prefer to use a single scope on several different rifles. In order for them to change rifles to accommodate a single scope, they would have to remove the scope from the mount of one rifle, and attach it to a separate and often different mount for the second rifle. Accordingly, when the hunter removes the scope from a first mount and attaches it to the second mount of the second rifle, he would have to realign the reticles of the scope with respect to the mount, as well as adjust the eye relief distance of the scope and zero it before use. Eye relief relates to the distance between the shooters eye and the end of the scope through which the shooter seeks his target. This process takes skill and time, notwithstanding the need for the hunter to purchase a separate scope mount for each individual gun.
Another significant deficiency of the scope mounting systems of the prior art is the destruction of a weapon's aesthetics. For many, a weapon or firearm is a utilitarian piece of equipment. In essence, it becomes simply a device that fires a projectile at a target. Its value resides purely in its ability to accurately and consistently hit that target. Thus the price of the scope and its mounting system can often equal or exceed the actual cost of the weapon. However for others, a firearm is more akin to a piece of art and somewhat of a status symbol. Its construction, operation and beauty in its styling all contribute to the weapon's value. Indeed many weapons are engraved with scrollwork and insignias requiring intricate manufacturing techniques. The price of such firearms can easily surpass that of a simple utilitarian model making the added expense of a scope trivial. Owners of such firearms are appalled at the prospect of permanently disfiguring a firearm to attach a scope and or mounting system. And while they desire the ability to accurately employ the weapon using technology afforded to them by the use of a scope, they would prefer to be able to quickly but temporarily mount the scope to the weapon and then remove the scope and mount thereafter. And, indeed, owners of such weapons often possess multiple types of weapons and multiple scopes.
The prior art does not provide a system by which a single scope can be consistently, reliably, and quickly mounted on a plurality of firearms, in which that same system allows multiple scopes to be consistently, reliably and quickly mounted to a single weapon, and in which the same system leaves the aesthetics of the weapon unchanged. These and other deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by one or more embodiment of the present invention.